{"id":4790,"date":"2024-10-07T21:08:24","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T21:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=4790"},"modified":"2024-10-12T22:07:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T22:07:21","slug":"eyes-of-laura-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/07\/eyes-of-laura-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyes of Laura Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> (1978)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Horror-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 104 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, nudity, language, brief sexual content)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Irvin Kershner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: John Carpenter and David Zelag Goodman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Artie Kane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 2, 1978 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Rene Auberjonois, Raul Julia, Frank Adonis, Lisa Taylor, Darlanne Fluegel, Rose Gregorio, Bill Boggs, Steve Marachuk, Meg Mundy, Marilyn Meyers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $20M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Perhaps the most notable thing about the thriller Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> is that it was written by John Carpenter. Yes, that John Carpenter. It began life as a spec script- a script written to be sold on the open market with no upfront payment- titled Eyes. Producer Jon Peters bought it with the intention of turning it into a starring vehicle for his then-girlfriend Barbra Streisand. The popular singer declined the role because of the kinky nature of the story. She did, however, contribute the theme song, the power ballad \u201cPrisoner\u201d. The title role ultimately went to Faye Dunaway, fresh from her Oscar-winning turn in Network.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Just to be clear, we are talking about the same Faye Dunaway who played actress Joan Crawford in the trashy tell-all biopic Mommie Dearest. Her performance is a textbook example of horrendous overacting. She continued the trend as the villainess Selena in 1984\u2019s supremely silly superhero movie Supergirl. It\u2019s almost hard to believe she\u2019s the same actress from Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Network and Barfly. Talk about acting range!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Laura Mars is a noted NYC photographer who specializes in photos depicting violence against women. She\u2019s a controversial figure constantly accused by feminists and the press of glamorizing rape and murder. The night before the launch party for her photography book The Eyes of Mars, she has a dream in which she sees a woman being murdered with an ice pick. She sees the killing through the eyes of the killer. It freaks her out a little. She later finds out there\u2019s been such a murder and the victim is somebody she knew.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Laura has a second vision, this time during a shoot in Columbus Square. The victim turns out to be the girlfriend of her ex-husband Michael (Julia, Kiss of the Spider Woman). She decides to tell the police what she \u201csaw\u201d. Naturally, they don\u2019t believe her. The cop in charge, Lt. Neville (Jones, The Fugitive), is skeptical. It doesn\u2019t stop him from getting romantically involved with the \u201cwitness\u201d while the killings continue.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back), Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> is a weird one, but with an explanation. Actually, it\u2019s more of a theory. Kershner didn\u2019t want to make a garden-variety killer thriller. Sure, it works in that capacity, but he wanted his movie to stand out from all the other woman-in-jeopardy thrillers of the time. Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> more closely resembles an Italian giallo <\/em>with its slightly surreal vibe, oddball characters and refusal to explain itself. We never learn the reason for Laura\u2019s sudden ability to foresee events. Clairvoyance isn\u2019t just something you pick up like a bug that\u2019s going around. Or maybe it is? The movie just wants the audience to accept it at face value. Okay, I can do that, but under mild protest.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Because Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> functions as a thriller, that means there\u2019s a list of suspects. Obviously, the killer is somebody that Laura knows. Rather, it\u2019s somebody who knows her or thinks they know her. Whichever way to choose to look at it, there are a few viable candidates. Obviously, there\u2019s the ex-hubby, an unbalanced and paranoid sort who can automatically be eliminated by virtue of being the most obvious suspect. That\u2019s the only spoiler I\u2019m giving you if you can even call it a spoiler. Next, we have her personal driver Tommy (Dourif, One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest), a dude with a criminal past. Then there\u2019s Donald (Auberjonois, The Big Bus), her agent and confidante. He\u2019s 1978 gay meaning nobody ever actually says \u201cgay\u201d. It\u2019s only hinted at. You can add Neville to the list too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If you know how the genre works, it\u2019ll be easy to pick the killer out of the lineup. That\u2019s not the problem with the ending. It\u2019s a last-minute twist that comes right out of left field. I wasn\u2019t looking for it and I can\u2019t believe the writers resorted to it. It\u2019s so corny. It was hackneyed even back in the 70s. On the other hand, it\u2019s no less weird than anything else that happens in Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong>. Take the scene where Donald dresses up as Laura to fool the cops assigned to protect her. That\u2019s where the gay in him really comes out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The performances are just what you\u2019d expect. They\u2019re serviceable within the confines of the genre. Dunaway does solid work as the target of the killer, one who suddenly finds herself in possession of a special psychic gift. She\u2019s sufficiently freaked out. Jones does good work as her protector and lover. Dourif is always awesome. Auberjonois camps it up to just the right level. Look for the late Darlanne Fluegel (To Live and Die in L.A.) as one of the models working for Laura.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I love that Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> moves to a disco beat. What could be more fitting for a movie set in 70s-era NYC? The soundtrack features some goodies like \u201cNative New Yorker\u201d (Odyssey), \u201cBoogie Nights\u201d (Heatwave), \u201cShake Your Booty\u201d (K.C. and the Sunshine Band) and my favorite, \u201cLet\u2019s All Chant\u201d (The Michael Zager Band). All that\u2019s missing is a scene in Studio 54.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Eyes of Laura Mars<\/strong> is a decent film. It\u2019s mostly predictable and not all that suspenseful, but it tells a good story with a supernatural slant. It did pretty well at the box office, but it\u2019s gone largely forgotten over the years. I say it\u2019s worth a watch or rewatch if for no reason than to see Dunaway act as opposed to overact.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Horror-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 104 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, nudity, language, brief sexual content)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Irvin Kershner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: John Carpenter and David Zelag Goodman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Artie Kane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 2, 1978 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Rene Auberjonois, Raul Julia, Frank Adonis, Lisa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suspense-thrillers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Eyes-of-Laura-Mars-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4790"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4852,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4790\/revisions\/4852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}